by Rabbi Leora Kaye I’m a rabbi, and my husband’s an atheist. My husband Doug’s atheism is well thought-out. He’s a loving, intelligent guy who doesn’t believe in God and hasn’t since he was eleven. He is moral, compassionate and Jewish, and he does not believe that his ethics are related to God. We believe parenting should be deliberate and purposeful, much like Reform Judaism. Choices should be based on knowledge, specifically knowledge about what kind of parent you want to be, what works in your family system and what works for your son or daughter. In this week’s Jewish Parenting Podcast, psychologist Richard Weissbourd says that while most parents do care about raising moral children, few make it their number one priority. Outside of the conversations my husband and I had trying to decide if a relationship between an atheist and a rabbi could work, we had one discussion [...]

by Lucy H. F. Dinner This year, I have the pleasure of studying the Book of Exodus together with the lay-led Hebrew Bible study group at Temple Beth Or in Raleigh, North Carolina, where I serve as senior rabbi. Thisd’var Torah draws on comments and realizations from members of the study group. The Ten Commandments, iconic through the ages, open with a statement of God’s redeeming power. The Israelites are poised at the base of Mount Sinai; a thick cloud has descended. God’s Voice bellows in the thunder: “I the Eternal am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods besides Me” (Exodus 20:2–3). Some say that the first two commandments were all that the Israelites actually heard. The rest were transmitted to them through Moses. Rabbi Hezekiah b. Manoah, who compiled an anthology of earlier commentators, explains: [...]

We stood at the sea Until the waters parted Midrash tells us why The first to step in Nachshon Ben Aminadav Then G-d split the sea Nachshon’s leap of faith Showed the courage leaders need Going first is hard    

by Paula Krone and Michael Faber Like most parents, from the time we gave birth to our son, we had many hopes and dreams for him. We wanted him to have a good education, have friends and grow up to live a happy and prosperous life. We also had dreams of our child being brought up in the Jewish religion, and we hoped our child would embrace all that Judaism has to offer. Of course, we had hoped that he would pass some part of ourselves, including our Jewish heritage, to his children. It wasn’t long after Benjamin Avi was born, however, that we knew that many of those dreams would never come to be. Benjamin Avi was born with a rare, genetic disease called mitochondrial myopathy. It is not one of the genetic diseases typically associated with the Jewish people. This one affects both Jews and non-Jews of all [...]

by A.G. Inclusion has always permeated my entire relationship with my temple, Congregation Kol Ami.  My very first conversation with Rabbi Shira Milgrom was about inclusion.  Twenty-one years ago, I was faced with a dilemma.  How could my ten-year-old son become a bar mitzvah if as a single working parent I could barely pay the rent, no less pay dues?   I posed the question to Rabbi Shira.  Her reply was simple.  “Just because you are poor, is not a reason that should prevent you from being part of a Jewish community.”  And so it began. Jeff attended Hebrew school and I started to go to the “Spiritual Lift”, a Saturday morning Sabbath service held in the Chapel in the Woods.  Years of social isolation began to fade, as I was welcomed into the congregation, a devoted group of fifty to one hundred Jews that eventually became an extended family.  It [...]